BISMARCK — A pavilion in Cando and a barn near McVille have been listed in the National Register of Historic Places, according to information from the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

The National Register of Historic Places is the federal government’s list of properties it considers worthy of preservation and recognition. North Dakota nominations are coordinated by the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

The Towner County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Cando was built in 1919 next to the horse racetrack shortly after the county fair was established. This building hosted food competitions and exhibits during the county fairs and was also the site of weekly dances and other social events. It is significant for this social history as well as for the unusual roof truss system that is a hybrid of Howe and Pratt truss designs.

The Nels Ophaug Farm Barn near McVille was built in 1905 as a gambrel-roofed bank barn with a stone foundation for dairy, calving, and horses. The upper level was rebuilt in 1943 with a Gothic-arched roof after a windstorm destroyed it.

Ophaug, a Norwegian immigrant who served in the North Dakota House of Representatives from 1921 to 1923 as an independent, built both the original barn and the reconstructed upper level. The barn is an excellent example of its type and attests to trends in the development of agriculture in North Dakota.